Nourdine Mouati: “Todas las dinastías de Marruecos partieron del Sáhara”
Nourdine Mouati, expert in Cooperation and Director of Business Development at Audakia Lab, analysed on Capital Radio's Atalayar programme, in a telephone interview, the main issues of Donald Trump's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty in Western Sahara.
What is your interpretation of this important agreement for the recognition of sovereignty in Western Sahara by the United States and also of the re-establishment of relations between Morocco and Israel?
It is a very important step, Thursday has been a historic day for relations between the United States of America and Morocco. These relations have always been strategic; as Trump mentioned in his famous tweet, Morocco was the first country in the world to recognise the independence of the United States in 1777. Furthermore, the first treaty the young American state signed was also with Morocco in 1786. These are strategic relations and I believe that, since the first visit of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in May 2018, this issue has already begun to move.
In this connection, I would stress that in the whole negotiation process that has taken place in the United Nations, in which Morocco and Polisario have participated, Morocco has never put Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara on the table. What was being negotiated there was the process for integrating Polisario into the management of the territory's affairs. In 2004 the United Nations and its Security Council abandoned the idea of the referendum, and in 2007 Morocco presented a proposal consisting of full autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. What the US Administration is saying to President Trump is that he supports this process and that it is the only way of settling a problem that is entrenched and could lead to other major conflicts such as the Sahel area or the border between Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria in the Sahara, as we know that there are connections between terrorist groups, arms and drug trafficking.
And how do you think US-Moroccan relations will progress from now on?
Morocco has always been a partner and ally of the United States, as witnessed, for example, by one of the most important military manoeuvres of the United States army on a global scale, the African Lion, whose main partner is Morocco with the participation of several countries such as Spain. What Trump has said mainly is that it is a recognition of full sovereignty, but he has also announced other very important measures such as the opening of an economically-oriented consulate in the Moroccan city of Dakhla, in the south. This is a city that Morocco intends to position as a gateway to sub-Saharan Africa, a global business centre, but one that is mainly oriented towards African countries. Furthermore, more than $3 billion are going to be invested in the provinces of southern Morocco, that is, in the whole of the Moroccan Sahara.
And what about the other part of the agreement? Morocco's recognition of Israel
The second part is a bit of a resumption of historical contacts between Israel and Morocco. This is very good news for the peace processes. During all the peace processes up to the Oslo Accords, Morocco has played a very important role since the 1960s, following its independence. Back in 1964, at one of the first summits of the Arab League, Hassan II stated that we should be realistic and recognise Israel. This means that Morocco has not changed its position so much; relations and contacts between the two countries exist. Mainly because, unlike other countries in the Middle East region, Morocco is a country whose ties with Israel are secular. More than a million Jews of Israel have Moroccan origin and dual Moroccan-Israeli nationality, and have always come to visit the country. Another relevant fact is that ten of the ministers in the current Netanyahu government are of Moroccan origin. The most visible is Amir Péretz, former Labour leader and Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry, who has recently shown his enthusiasm for this news in a video. Another of the most important ministers is Aryeh Deri, Minister of the Interior, who has been in government since 2016 and who is also of Moroccan origin, born in Meknes.
Ties have always existed, as Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, has said: "When Morocco opened the representation, the liaison office in Tel Aviv, that office served the interests of the Palestinians more than the interests of the Israelis. An example of this is that the Palestinians went to that office to ask for support from Morocco for the problems they might have'. On the other hand, King Mohammed VI, as chairman of the Al-Qods Committee, has been fairly clear about the Palestinian question. He stressed that the three bases for settling the conflict. The first is to initiate a relationship aimed at creating two states: Palestine and Israel; the second, to resume negotiations as soon as possible and, finally, that Jerusalem has the status of capital of the two States, safeguarding its ecumenical character as a city of the three religions.
What is the relationship that is perceived at this time with the Saharawis, and how, in your view, is the understanding or that approach that Moroccan society has made with the Saharawi people?
My father was from this region and that is why I know the southern part of Morocco very well, not only the Polisario can be the only representative of the territory, we are the majority who have decided to continue being Moroccans. You also have to look at the historical sources, all the dynasties of Morocco started from the Sahara, the Almoravids started from the Sahara. The creation of the current borders that were later modified by the protectorate started from the Sahara. Here we do not hear the great majority and we hear a minority that is supported by one country, our eastern neighbour, which invests millions of dollars through oil in the United States and other countries to give an unrealistic picture. Because we do not listen to leaders of the southern part of Morocco who are Sahrawi, such as Yanja El Khattat, president of the region of Dakhla, or Hamdi Ould Errachid, president of the region of El Aaiun, or the mayor of Dakhla, who represents a rival group of over 50,000 people. In the end, here there has always been a vision in Morocco that is seen as colonialist, because Spain did not consider the Sahara to be a Spanish province until 1958 after Morocco's independence. In other words, seeing that independence was already a fact and that they were going to lose it, the territory was recognised in 1958, and Morocco's independence was in 1956, why didn't it recognise it earlier? We must look at these historical sources.
As far as human rights are concerned...
As for human rights, there is a Regional Human Rights Council in each of Morocco's regions and in the Sahara they are naturally respected. But let us make it known that there is a group akin to Polisario that is an armed organisation, let us not forget that Polisario is an armed organisation financed by Algeria, which took part in the first attacks that took place in the territory. It should be remembered that Polisario was born killing Spaniards, and this can be clearly said. Let us not forget that it is an armed group; we must insist on this because we tend to forget history.
As far as human rights are concerned, is Morocco the most advanced country in this respect in North Africa?
With respect to human rights, Morocco is the most advanced country in North Africa; we can talk about Tunisia, we can talk about internal problems, but Morocco is making progress and is aligning its entire legal system with the European Union and the United States government and its relationship with human rights attest to this. I don't know if you know that in Barack Obama's second administration John Kerry, this man influenced by some of the congressmen from the oil industry, you know which country is behind it, wanted to extend the MINURSO mission towards controlling human rights and this did not prosper. It didn't prosper because in the end he truly realized what was in the territory. There are some episodes, but they cannot be generalised; I do not know if you remember the episode in 2010 when armed groups influenced by the Polisario movement murdered 11 members of the Moroccan security forces in El Aaiun. In the end Kerry changed his mission and withdrew.